


Suspect

by SkyTintedWater



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Gen, mentions of assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-22 18:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18140324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyTintedWater/pseuds/SkyTintedWater
Summary: Jakey P and Chillin Schillens: Beatsie Boyz for life. Completely in synch, they have each other’s back while they protect the citizens of this fine city.Don’t they?





	Suspect

As Toni Braxton’s ‘Un-Break My Heart’ flowed through the speakers Patrol Officer Jake Peralta quickly switched the station. He didn’t want to start singing along and anyone think he was uncool. Beside him sat Stevie ‘Chillen’ Schillens, the freshest cop (besides Jake, of course) in the 65th precinct. He was flicking through his notes and humming ‘Fight For Your Right’ under his breath.  
‘Remind me what this guy did again?’ asked Jake.   
‘He stole a bunch of jewellery and torched the shop when he left,’ said Stevie  
‘Allegedly,’ said Jake, pulling into the carpark.   
‘Sure, if you wanna be technical. We saw his face on the security footage though, so we know he did it dude. Now all’s we gotta do is find the guy and bring him back to the station.’   
Jake sighed happily as they enter the elevator. ‘I love it when criminals make it this easy.’  
Logan Barnes hadn’t been home, but his girlfriend lived on the third floor of this building. When they knocked on her front door it was Barnes himself who answered, his smile as slick as the grease in his hair.   
‘Hello officers. Can I help you with something?’ he asked, leaning casually against the door frame.   
‘Are you Logan Barnes?’ asked Jake. He heard Stevie give an impatient sigh but plowed on regardless: procedure is dumb, but it needs to be carried out.   
‘Yeah, that’s me.’  
‘Babe, who’s at the door?’ Behind Barnes a woman stepped into the hallway, a dish towel in her hands and a frown on her face. ‘Police? What did you d—’  
Barnes turned around, his fists clenching at his sides. Behind him, Jake felt rather than saw Stevie reach for his gun. Jake waved him down, and Stevie sighed again. Barnes didn’t say a word to his girlfriend, but Jake watched as the woman’s face changed from unsure to fearful. His gut clenched and he stood a little straighter.   
‘Sir, we need you to come down to the station for us, in regards to a robbery and arson of a local jewellery store. Our detectives have some questions for you.’   
Barnes’ eyes narrowed, and Jake shifted his weight, ready for a fight. But instead Barnes shrugged and followed them downstairs, slamming the door shut behind him.   
Stevie tried to get him to talk all the way to the precinct.  
‘Yo, Barnes, you see the game last night? Bortles is a legend, right?’  
‘You ever tried the Flatbush Diner pie? I hear it’s good.’   
‘I bet I can guess your favourite singer. It’s Avril Lavigne, right? No no, wait … LeAnn Rimes.’  
Logan Barnes stays stony silent throughout. Jake, eager to fill the silence, told them both about the time he caught his father making out with his principal.   
‘But it got me out of suspension! Sweet, right?’ He’d started to sweat, pretending the other two weren’t staring at him with equals measures of pity and horror. ‘Hey look, the precinct! Let’s go inside and pretend I never said anything, cool?’   
Jake and Stevie handed their perp over to the detectives and headed to the break room to do their paperwork. It took two hours, mostly because they kept trying to see who could fit the most amount of Skittles in their mouths (After Jake nearly choked — twice — they called it a draw.)  
They were almost done when Stevie looked up and saw Barnes walk past, a high-priced lawyer in tow. He stood up so quickly he flippa-ed the table, scattering paperwork everywhere. He and Jake looked the detectives, who shook their heads.   
‘He lawyered up,’ said one. ‘Nothing we could do.’  
‘Go and blow off some steam, fellas,’ said the other detective. ‘Can’t win ‘em all.’   
Stevie glared at them and opened his mouth as Captain Ritter walked out of her office. ‘Schillens, don’t. You and Peralta can take the rest of the day off. Go to the gym and get this out of your system. We’ll get him next time.’  
‘Yeah, let’s go to the gym and get _ripped!’_ said Jake. ‘Or, since I’m still sore from this morning’s workout, we could just go to Lone Wolf. It’s two-for-one shots tonight!’   
‘Whatever. Let’s go.’ 

***

It took two shots for Stevie’s frown to disappear. It took four until he started to talk. At six shots in he actually smiled, mainly because Jake spun on his stool so quickly he got dizzy and started to gag. Jake ordered two more for luck, even though the skeleton on the wall in front of him advised him not to.   
‘’M … ‘M gon’ … gon’ go h’me now,’ Jake said, standing very carefully. The floor was unusually warped tonight and he kept having to throw his arms out for balance.   
Stevie nodded and slammed his last shot. ‘Yeah, me too. See you tomorrow, Beatsie Boy.’ 

***

When Jake woke the next morning he felt fine (after three cups of coffee and a big greasy breakfast. Throwing up a couple of times also helped). _And_ he was only half an hour late to work, a big improvement on last week. Captain Ritter would definitely compliment him on that.   
But when he entered the bull pen he saw Detectives Black and Tan shaking Stevie’s hand.   
‘What’s going on?’ asked Jake.   
‘Barnes turned himself in this morning,’ said Detective Black. ‘Some thug threw him down some subway stairs last night and he wants our protection. So we got him to confess to the jewellery store robbery. There he goes.’  
Jake turned with a smile on his face, looking forward to seeing a scumbag in handcuffs. That _was_ what he saw, but he hadn’t expected Barnes to look so … defeated, even covered in bruises. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with anyone.   
‘Do we know who assaulted him?’ asked Jake.   
Stevie snorted. ‘Who cares, man? He’s just another scuzzbucket goin’ to jail where he belongs.’   
‘But if he was attacked by the subway, there’ll definitely be footage somewhere. Which —’  
Stevie rolled his eyes. ‘What, you actually give a crap about this guy? Come on man, I thought you were cool.’  
‘I am! I am cool. I just … never mind, forget it. We should go out again tonight to celebrate, right?’   
‘Swert! Let’s eat big sandwiches!’   
A few hours later, Jake was struggling to stay awake while reading through a huge stack of reports on recent muggings. Stevie had been partnered with another cop and told to do door duty.   
Another officer knocked on the door. ‘Peralta? That subway footage you requested came in. I set it up for you in the briefing room.’  
‘Thanks.’  
He scrolled through it, not expecting to see anything. Plenty of people scurried back and forth across the screen, and it wasn’t until he watched it for the third time that he saw someone he recognised.   
Jake played it at the normal speed, squinting. Yes, there was Logan Barnes arguing with someone wearing a hoodie. But it wasn’t him that Jake had recognised. Suddenly, shockingly, the man ( _or woman, Jake, woman can be monsters too_ ) in the hoodie shoved Barnes backwards down the stairs and waited, watching what they’d just done. And then, casually, they turned and walked away.   
If he didn’t know any better, Jake would swear the hooded figure was …  
‘Dude, what are you _doing?_ It’s sandwich time!’   
Jake shut off the television with a sigh. He was tired and not thinking properly. It was indeed sandwich time.   
He and Stevie ate good food, drank beers together, and laughed liked friends, like partners, like two people who trusted each other. And then Jake went home early, telling Stevie he was tired.   
‘Oh, sure thing man. See you tomorrow?’  
‘Sure. Tomorrow.’

***

It’s been a month since Officer Peralta became Detective Peralta, and Captain Ritter has just informed him that he’ll be transferred to the Ninety-Ninth Precinct, effective immediately.  
‘Well, not _immediately_ immediately,’ she says, checking her paperwork. ‘You have time to clear out that trash pile you call a desk. And if I find a single banana peel in your locker I will have you flensed.’  
‘Joke’s on you Captain, I hate bananas,’ says Jake, standing up. They shake hands and she gives him a rare smile.   
‘You’re a good cop, Peralta. Trust your instincts, and you’ll never go wrong.’   
Stevie is waiting for him outside.   
‘Gonna miss you bud! Who else will do Slap Slap Boom with me?’   
Jake laughs. ‘I’ll miss you too. ‘You’re a …’ The words he wants to say die on his tongue. ‘You’re a good friend, Stevie Schillens.’   
‘Right back at you, Jake Peralta.’

**Author's Note:**

> In ‘The 98’, Jake is very quick to believe Charles over Stevie. It’s obvious that Jake trusts Charles as a friend and as a cop, but I wondered if there was something more to that. So I wrote this.   
> It's set roughly in 2008, so I looked up musicians and bars that might have been around then. Lone Wolf was/is a real bar (the internet is unclear about its actual status) and I can’t tell if it was open in 2008, but I liked the name.   
> I can’t help but throw in random references: there’s a Psych one, a Good Place one … Kudos if you get them all.


End file.
